US To Remain ‘Aggressive’ Abroad

US to remain ‘aggressive’ abroad

The US Secretary of State has said that his country will continue to pursue an “aggressive” foreign policy.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Colin Powell said President George Bush would not alter or curtail his policies abroad in his second term.

“The president is not going to trim his sails or pull back,” Mr Powell said in his first interview since the election.

“It’s a continuation of his principles, his policies, his beliefs,” he told the London-based newspaper.

The president had won a mandate to pursue a foreign policy that was in the US national interest, he said.

This policy had traditionally been “aggressive in terms of going after challenges, issues”, Mr Powell added, and the president was “going to keep moving in this direction”.

Mr Bush would take a multilateral approach, he said, but the US would act alone where necessary.

Moments like this frighten me. Once in awhile, we get a flash of utter truthfulness from the Bush administration, whether inadvertent like Bush’s “crusade” comment, or purposeful, like this speech from Powell, the world’s most powerful house negro. Sends chills through my body, it does.